The Snapdragon 821-Powered Asus ZenFone 3 Deluxe Special Edition Will Arrive In The US Later This Month

Asus has also confirmed that the ZenWatch 3 will sell for $229 and will arrive in November. Photo: Mandy Cheng/AFP/GettyImages

Asus will be releasing the Deluxe Special Edition of the ZenFone 3 smartphone in the United States later this month. The handset comes with the Snapdragon 821 processor that’s also found on the Google Pixel smartphones and will sell for $799.

The Asus ZenFone 3 Deluxe Special Edition comes with a 5.7-inch 1080p full HD AMOLED display, 6GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a 23-megapixel camera, according to Android Authority. This is the highest-end configuration of the device which justifies the $799 price tag.

The ZenFone 3 Deluxe comes with an all-metal unibody design, and a 5.7-inch display.Photo: ASUS

This might just be a great alternative to the Pixel XL which sells for $869, but that only comes with 128GB of storage. The only real downside of the ZenFone 3 Deluxe Special Edition is that it still comes with a 1080p resolution display instead of quad HD 1440p.

Overall, the handset looks like it’s going to make consumers have second thoughts when they pick up one of Google’s Pixel smartphones. The Deluxe Special Edition will start shipping on Oct. 19, according to Android Central.

Asus first unveiled the ZenFone 3 Deluxe back in May, but those versions have some less powerful innards. There’s a 5.7-inch variant that comes with a Snapdragon 820 chip with 4GB of RAM that sells for $499, and a $399 5.5-inch version that’s powered by a Snapdragon 625 with 4GB of RAM.

If the Special Edition’s price is a bit too steep, the other two variants are still fine alternatives for those already set on getting a ZenFone 3 Deluxe. The cheaper variants of the ZenFone 3 Deluxe is expected to ship on Oct. 12.

In addition to releasing the Deluxe Special Edition, Asus also confirmed that the ZenWatch 3 will sell for $229, while the 10-inch ZenPad 3S 10 tablet will sell for $299. Both devices will arrive in early November.